Jesse Wakenshaw emerges as a visionary multidisciplinary artist, fervently rejecting the ties of perfectionism in pursuit of profound self-expression. With an unwavering commitment to exploring the intricate interplay between scent and visual artistry, Jesse's creative odyssey unfolds as a mesmerising journey through the realms of identity and self-discovery.
Jesse's oeuvre transcends traditional boundaries, offering a tantalising sensory tapestry that evokes both nostalgia and innovation. In a post-internet era saturated with visual stimuli, he boldly ventures into uncharted territory, weaving together the elusive language of scent with the visual medium to forge deeply resonant narratives.
Harnessing the ethereal power of olfaction, Jesse deftly manipulates fragrances to evoke a myriad of emotions, inviting viewers to immerse themselves in an experiential journey of self-reflection and introspection. Each composition serves as a testament to the intimate relationship between scent and memory, as well as the transformative potential of sensory exploration.
Drawing inspiration from personal experiences of trauma and liberation, Jesse's work serves as a poignant meditation on the complexities of identity and the human condition. Through a delicate balance of vulnerability and resilience, he endeavours to capture the ephemeral essence of the present moment, inviting audiences to partake in a transcendent olfactory experience that transcends the boundaries of language and perception.
Season Gallery/ Zetland
Perfume Salon is a participatory olfactory experiment exploring instinct and collective creation through scent.
Participants inherit an existing fragrance and respond using a shared palette of aroma molecules. They intuitively add, remove, layer, or alter materials before passing the scent to the next person.
Each response becomes the starting point for the next, allowing the fragrance to continuously evolve.
Every version of the scent is documented and archived alongside the materials that were added or changed. This growing record is analysed over time, revealing patterns, recurring material choices, and how collective intuition shapes the evolution of the fragrance.
Scented Intuition embraces experimentation, chance, and imperfection, treating scent as both a creative medium and a living record of shared decision-making.
Airspace Gallery/ Marrickville
Sculptural forms—punctured, veiled, and visceral—echo the language of desire, intimacy, and surveillance. This work emerges from personal experiences of queer isolation and the quiet negotiations of safety, expression, and visibility. Growing up, the body often felt like a site of contradiction—watched, policed, and misunderstood. These sculptures and scents carry those tensions: the longing to be seen without being exposed, to be held without fear. Stark and sensory-driven, the installation unravels these complexities through olfactive and sculptural elements. Set against a backdrop of imagined collapse, it mirrors real anxieties—social, political, and internal. Through smell and space, the work invites viewers into a world where the personal becomes political, and survival becomes an intimate act of resistance. These forms speak to how queerness adapts and endures—always shifting, always carving out space for tenderness, even in the ruins.
Cafe/ Brunswick
Industrial Diffuser/ Scent
Benzoin
Antique Piano wood
Labdanum
Cedarwood
Instrument interiors
Orbitone
Elemi Resin
Aetoxylon Wood
Photos courtesy of Casper Plum.
Herbet Hall/ Adelaide
Scent / Feather / Perfume Bottle / Timber Brackets/ Aluminium / Fluorescent light / Scent Machine
Dimensions:
115 cm x 36 cm
A stained, scented feather sits soaked in a sharp, industrial and medicinal accord.
The physical side reflects the construction of one’s ideas : hard, material and tangible.
The experimental accord is composed largely from scraped and discarded perfume formulas. Failures, abandoned ideas and fragments of past artistic processes are reclaimed and given new terms of possibility.
Notes: Rubber / Medicinal / Smoke / Rose
A second accord is projected into the space, representing the liminal space between the physical and mental.
Soft, ambient, familiar yet strange and dusty, the scent exists less as an object and more as an atmosphere. A suggestion of thought, memory and internal space.
Notes: Iris / Dust / Cedarwood / Patchouli / Frankincense
Art Gallery of South Australia/ Adelaide
Plywood / Perfume Bottle / Found Carpet/ Scent/ Brass Key Hole / Electrical Tape / LED Light .
Scent :
Cedarwood Funerbis/Virginian Cedarwood/Cedarwood Atlas/Javanol/Coffee Robusta CO2/ Coffee Arabica/Dust Accord/Castoreum/Leather
Dimensions :
30.48 x 40.64 cm
Something familiar, something that became part of the place.
Conversations, over time, settled into scent. A fragrance lingering underfoot, absorbed into the architecture, leaving its trace in the space.
In a world where we continually strive for perfection .
I find myself returning to the idea of play , and mistake making .
The work embraces subtle imperfections and moments of unpredictability.
Allowing space for experimentation mistakes and a human form which lies within the work.
A slowed down process through found materials , textures and hand formulated scent reflecting the materials and habit of home .
WACKIE JU SAVIOUR 002 / AFW
Australian Fashion Week/ Sydney
Scent Scape/Scented Garments for Wackie Ju Savior Show 002
Anticipation of tomorrow's dawn brings new hopes and lingering shadows. Keynotes like Jasmine Sambac, Cassis, Cade wood, Olibanum, Musks, Resins, Medicinal Camphor.
Burnt Amber and Narcotic Florals unfold in a complex dance.
Scent narrates a story, evolving with each moment, much like a poetic dance.
Each whiff offers a new facet to uncover.
We imagine a sacred site where ethereal elements meet brutal chaos, reflecting our internal light and shadow.
This journey through scent and fashion encourages the audience to find personal narratives in their own life and olfactory experiences.
Garments infused with fragrance perhaps for protection/attraction and guidance.
Scent/Soap/Plywood/Glass/Epoxy/Stainless Steel
Atlas Cedarwood / Basil / Birch / Cardamon / Carrot seed / Cassis / Celery Seed / Cocoa / Coriander / Cypress / Galbanum / Iris / Jasmine Sambac / Juniper Berry / Labdanum / Mastic / Noble Fir / Oakmoss absolute / Patchouli / Spearmint / Sweet Fennel / Tarragon / Tomato leaf / and Violet leaf. Ambroxan / Cedramber / Cetalox / Cis-3-Hexonal / Clearwood / Geosmin / Galbex / Habolanolide / Hindinol / Iso Butyl Quinoline / Iso e super / Linyl Acetate / Trans-2-Cis-6-Nonadienal / Tripil / Undercavertol / Veramoss / and Vertofix.
Dilutents: Dpg / Bio-Ethanol Alcohol
Lather
Soap/Scent/Green tea
Iso Butyl Quinoline/Galbanum/Orris root/Galbex/Veramoss/Ambroxan
Soapy/Green/Fruity
Glasshouse
Glass Lab funnels/Plywood/Coffee Filter paper/ Scent
1.Patch-
Clearwood/Geosmin/Carrot seed/Cocoa/Fir
Mineral/Soil
2.Cucubert -
Trans - 2 Cis-6-Nonadienal/ Geosmin
Waxy/Watery
3.Thallium-
Blackcurrant leaf/Cis- 3 Hexonal/Tripal/Undercavertol/Iso E super
Juicy/Sharp/Bitter
4.Absinthe Crush-
Sweet Fennel/Spearmint/Galbanum/Tarragon/Fir/Tomato leaf/Triple/Oakmoss/Juniper/Ambroxan/Mastic
Cooling/Aromatic
5.Canopy -
Atlas Cedarwood/Fir/Cypress/Iso e super/Cedramber/Vertofix/Birch
Conifer/Woods
SOFT/MELBOURNE DESIGN WEEK
From soft nutty skin scent to carnale night.
In the realm of perfumery, where scents often evoke memories and emotions, a novel concept emerges — three fragrances crafted to arouse, intrigue, be loved, or be hated.
These Extrait de Parfums transcend the conventional; they are highly experimental, designed to provoke emotions and sensations throughout three distinct intervals of a weekend day: 6:30 am, 5 pm, and 12 am.
At the heart of this concept lies the intimate connection between scent and the human experience. Each fragrance is a sensory journey, an olfactory exploration that transcends the mundane and delves into the depths of human emotion. From the moment of awakening to the boldness of midnight, these fragrances offer an immersive experience, inviting wearers to embrace the complexities of their own emotions.
In the morning, a minimalist fragrance awakens the senses, evoking memories of last night's intimate moments and the promise of a new day. Its scent is a gentle caress, a subtle whisper that heralds the dawn. At 5 pm, as daylight fades into twilight, an enigmatic salty aroma emerges, embodying intrigue and mystery. Its fragrance is a tantalizing dance of notes, weaving a narrative of seduction and allure. And finally, at midnight, a bold and daring scent commands attention, exuding passion and intensity. This fragrance is a symphony of desires, igniting the senses and enveloping the wearer in a whirlwind of deep, dark emotion.
Linger/ Puzzles Art Gallery, Chippendale
The exhibition space becomes a multi- sensory environment, a new realm in which to explore and perhaps reflect on and process ones trauma/ psychology.
Growing up as a queer child in a hyper masculine, sometimes harsh and brutal world provides a backdrop for the inner turmoil faced in which he now uses to inspire his practice.
Using Olfaction, Photography , Video and Sculpture, Jesse intertwines the mediums and creates a bridge between the past and the present.
Linger is an experimental work that showcases both natural and synthetic aroma chemical compounds in their rarest form.
Core memories are often tied strongly via the memory of scent. Scent has the power to transport oneself to a particular place and time.
With this mind, the scents created here play on various themes; time tension, danger, polarisation, fear and fragility.
The interaction of these formulated accords correspond with the emotions that arise during the creation of the visual work.
Jesse Wakenshaw’s focal starting point ‘Linger’ was to experiment deeply with the ideas of ‘seeing a smell’.
Intentionally sourced and repurposed materials that were pre- loved ; various items the artist serendipitously came across, in order to highlight how scent connects to memories and how emotions can be attached to particular objects.
Jesse adapts a playful approach in order to make his inner Child’s dreams and desires feel seen.
An ode to flamboyancy and vulnerability that once was repressed and hidden.